Low‐P and high‐T metamorphism of basalts: Insights from the Sudbury impact melt sheet aureole and thermodynamic modelling

Low‐pressure and high‐temperature (LP–HT) metamorphism of basaltic rocks, which occurs globally and throughout geological time, is rarely constrained by forward phase equilibrium modelling, yet such calculations provide valuable supplementary thermometric information and constraints on anatexis that are not possible to obtain from conventional thermometry. Metabasalts along the southern margin of the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC) record evidence of high‐grade contact metamorphism involving partial melting and melt segregation. Peak metamorphic temperatures reached at least ~925°C at ~1–3 kbar near the SIC contact. Preservation of the peak mineral assemblage indicates that most of the generated melt escaped from these rocks leaving a residuum characterized by a plagioclase–orthopyroxene–clinopyroxene–ilmenite‐magnetite±melt assemblage. Peak temperatures reached ~875°C up to 500 m from the SIC lower contact, which marks the transition to metabasalts that only experienced incipient partial melting without melt loss. Metabasalts ~500 to 750 m from the SIC contact are characterized by a similar two‐pyroxene mineral assemblage, but typically contain abundant hornblende that overgrew clino‐ and orthopyroxene along an isobaric cooling path. Metabasalts ~750 to 1,000 m from the SIC contact are characterized by a hornblende–plagioclase–quartz–ilmenite assemblage indicating temperatures up to ~680°C. Mass balance and phase equilibria calculations indicate that anatexis resulted in 10–20% melt generation in the inner ~500 m of the aureole, with even higher degrees of melting towards the contact. Comparison of multiple models, experiments, and natural samples indicates that modelling in the Na₂O–CaO–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O–TiO₂–O₂ (NCFMASHTO) system results in the most reliable predictions for the temperature of the solidus. Incorporation of K₂O in the most recent amphibole solution model now successfully predicts dehydration melting by the coexistence of high‐Ca amphibole and silicate melt at relatively low pressures (~1.5 kbar). However, inclusion of K₂O as a system component results in prediction of the solidus at too low a temperature. Although there are discrepancies between modelling predictions and experimental results, this study demonstrates that the pseudosection approach to mafic rocks is an invaluable tool to constrain metamorphic processes at LP–HT conditions.     

Rockburst research at Falconbridge's Strathcona Mine,Sudbury, Canada

Microseismic systems at five mines in the Sudbury Basin provide the basic data for Falconbridge Limited's rockburst research. Daily and long-term analysis of this data as well as underground observations have confirmed the fault-slip mechanism at three mines. A detailed analysis of the complete history of Falconbridge Mine is being conducted and Distinct Element numerical models are being used to simulate both the stick-slip behaviour of faults and the dynamic effects of the induced vibrations on rock and backfill. University research includes acoustic tomographic imaging of the rock mass based on seismic wave propagation and collection of full microseismic waveforms to allow application of advanced seismic and statistical analysis techniques.Formerly with Mines Technical Services, Falconbridge Limited, Sudbury Operations, Falconbridge , Ont., P0M 1S0.Presented at the Fred Leighton Memorial Workshop on Mining Induced Seismicity, Montreal, Canada, August 30, 1987.     

The Sudbury Structure (Ontario,Canada): a tectonically deformed multi-ring impact basin

The occurrence of shock metamorphic features substantiates an impact origin for the 1.85 Ga old Sudbury Structure, but this has not been universally accepted. Recent improvements in knowledge of large-scale impact processes, combined with new petrographic, geochemical, geophysical (LITHOPROBE) and structural data, allow the Sudbury Structure to be interpreted as a multi-ring impact structure. The structure consists of the following lithologies: Sudbury Breccia —dike breccias occurring up to 80 km from the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC); Footwall rocks and Footwall Breccia — brecciated, shocked crater floor materials, in part thermally metamorphosed by the overlying SIC; Sublayer and Offset Dikes, Main Mass of the SIC and Basal Member of the Onaping Formation (OF) — geochemically heterogeneous coherent impact melt complex ranging from inclusion-rich basal unit through a dominantly inclusion-free to a capping inclusion-rich impact melt rock; Grey Member of OF — melt-rich impact breccia (suevite); Green Member of OF — thin layer of fall back ejecta; Black Member of OF — reworked and redeposited breccia material; Onwatin and Chelmsford Formations — post-impact sediments. Observational and analytical data support an integrated step-by-step impact model for the genesis of these units. Analysis of the present spatial distribution of various impact-related lithologies and shock metamorphic effects result in an estimated original rim-to-rim diameter of the final crater of 200 or even 280 km for the Sudbury Structure, prior to tectonic thrusting and deformation during the Penokean orogeny.     

加拿大Sudbury地区地壳结构特征──AGT（1992）地震折射波资料初步解释

根据1992年加拿大岩石圈组织的Abitibi－GrenvilleTransect（AGT）实验计划中的高精度地震折射波资料的处理与解释,讨论了Sudbury地区的地壳结构特征对2条纵剖面及2条扇形剖面的地震折射波数据做了正反演计算．此外,应用层析成像技术对地震资料进行了处理根据数值计算结果,明确了该区Moho界面的变化形态并发现了Sudbury结构下部透镜状高速异常体的存在．     

加拿大萨德伯里奈恩( Nairn) 铜多金属矿 地球化学特征及意义

[摘 要] 加拿大奈恩(Nairn)工作区位于萨德伯里(Sudbury)镍铜矿集区南西方向约50 km,工作区 内的矿化类型可划分两类:淤产于辉长岩中的铜镍矿化和于产于石英角砾岩中的铜矿化。两种矿石的 微量元素和稀土元素特征较为相似, 高场强元素中富集Th-Zr-Hf 而相对亏损Nb-Ta 等,大离子亲石元 素中富集Rb-U-Pb 而相对亏损Ba-P-Ti 等,稀土元素相对富集轻稀土,轻稀土元素分馏程度明显,而重 稀土元素分馏程度不明显,铈异常不明显,而铕异常变化较大,总体上表现为负异常。上述特征暗示其 物质来源可能相似,结合其矿物组合和本区围岩特征来看, 铜镍矿石主要与中-基性岩浆有关,而石英 角砾岩的铜矿化主要与后期的岩浆热液有关,表明两种矿化类型主要与本区岩浆的结晶分异作用有关, 早期的高温铜镍硫化物随辉长岩中硅酸盐矿物的结晶而后生成,晚期的含矿热液沿构造产生的断层破 碎带迁移并最终充填在构造裂隙中。从奈恩矿区成矿特征来看,本区辉长岩墙与上伏围岩的接触部位, 特别是构造发育或相互交汇处将为最有利的成矿部位。     

Multiring-forming large bolide impacts and evolution of planetary surfaces

In the past few years, meteoritic and cometary impacts have emerged as a major geological agent in the construction and evolution of planetary surfaces. Formation of complex central ring, peak ring and multiring craters involves excavation and melting of large volumes of crustal material. High-resolution geophysical mapping measuring gravity, magnetics, and topography of the Moon and Mars have recently provided information on the subsurface structure of large basins and aided in identifying buried giant craters. The terrestrial crater record has been significantly erased by tectonic, magmatic, and erosion processes and only a small proportion of impact structures remain. Record of multiring craters is limited to three examples: Vredefort, Sudbury and Chicxulub. Deep geophysical surveys and geochemical and isotopic studies of those craters provide means to evaluate the influence of large impacts on the lithospheric and crustal evolution by providing estimates of excavation depth and volume, amounts of material fragmented, ejected, vaporized and melted, and effects on the crustal stratigraphy and crustal thickness. Analyses on the melt from Vredefort, Sudbury, and Chicxulub indicate andesitic composition derived from lower-crustal material. The melt formed inside the lower transient cavity from lower crustal material that was then redistributed and emplaced in upper-crustal levels, resulting in crustal redistribution. Crystalline basement clasts fragmented and incorporated into the breccias show varying degrees of alteration but no significant thermal effects. Ejecta were deposited locally within the crater region and ballistic material and fine ejecta are globally distributed on the planetary surface. Impacts influence the crust–mantle boundary, with Moho uplift. Material from the mantle was not incorporated into the melt and impact breccias, indicating that the excavation cavities were confined to the lower crust. This is also apparently the case for the giant basins on the Moon, including the 2500 km diameter South Pole-Aitken Basin. Considering the numbers of large multiring basins, possible flux of large impacts, and effects on target surfaces, crustal scale redistribution of material during those large impacts has played a major role in the evolution of planetary surfaces.     

Partial melting and melt segregation in footwall units within the contact aureole of the Sudbury Igneous Complex (North and East Ranges,Sudbury structure), with implications for their relationship to footwall Cu–Ni–PGE mineralization

We performed detailed field and drill core mapping of partial melting features and felsic rocks (footwall granophyres, FWGRs) representing segregated and crystallized partial melts within the contact aureole of the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC) in the 1.85 Ga Sudbury impact structure. Our results, derived from mapping within the North (Windy Lake, Foy, Wisner areas) and East Ranges (Skynner, Frost areas) of the structure, reveal that partial melting was widespread in both felsic and mafic footwall units up to distances of 500 m from the basal contact of the SIC. Texturally and mineralogically, significant differences exist between rocks formed by partial melting within and between localities. In general, however, melt bodies are dominated by different quartz-feldspar intergrowths (e.g. granophyric, graphic) and miarolitic cavities up to 5 cm in diameter. Major and trace element compositions of Wisner and Frost FWGRs imply that they crystallized from melts dominantly derived from partial melting of felsic Levack Gneiss and Cartier granitoid rocks, as well as from gabbroic rocks only at Frost. These results accord with our observations on in situ partial melting features and crystallized melt of microscopic scale in both felsic and mafic rocks. We conclude that partial melting occurred at a pressure of 1.5 ± 0.5 kbar and at temperatures up to 750°C in the Wisner area and up to 900°C in the Frost and Windy Lake areas. Segregations of partial melt into veins and dikes are present in all localities, and were promoted by deformation of the Sudbury structure in the Penokean orogeny as indicated by dominant strike directions. Whereas veins and dikes reflect brittle conditions during melt migration, sheared melt pods in the Sudbury breccia matrix indicate ductile conditions during their crystallization. Our results suggest a close genetic association of partial melting, melt segregation, and hydrothermal processes responsible for remobilization of Cu–Ni–PGE sulphides into and within the SIC footwall.     

加拿大Sudbury陨石冲击角砾岩中锆石显微构造与相变

关于加拿大Sudbury构造的成因,现在的学者大多认同其形成于陨石撞击。为了找到更加强有力的证据,文中对取自Sudbury冲击角砾岩中的锆石进行了研究。Sudbury冲击角砾岩是Sudbury构造的特殊现象,采用扫描电镜、结合拉曼光谱方法从角砾岩的锆石中发现了显微构造和相变的证据。所观察到的显微构造呈一系列面状构造(planar microstructure),在3个方向上平行展布,并相互剪切。Sudbury角砾岩锆石的典型Raman谱线中,除锆石的几个峰外,在640cm-1和817cm-1也可见两个峰,并可分别与铁橄榄石和一种ZrO2相匹配。该ZrO2相的谱线也不同于典型的斜锆石,却与López等合成的一种含有0.5%(质量分数)TiO2的ZrO2相非常相似。这些证据显示,一些锆石的颗粒边缘发生了如下反应:ZrSiO4+2FeOZrO2+Fe2SiO4,并已变成了一种ZrO2相和铁橄榄石(fayalite)。这些显微构造和相变特征都能够说明Sudbury角砾岩受到过高压冲击,并进一步支持Sudbury构造的陨石撞击成因。     

A 100 km-long paleomagnetic traverse radial to the Sudbury Structure, Canada and its bearing on Proterozoic deformation and metamorphism of the surrounding basement

The 1850 Ma Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC), considered to be a composite melt sheet of a major meteorite impact, has been deformed into an oval-shaped basin known as the Sudbury Structure. This paper explores to what extent this deformation has been communicated to the surrounding Archean basement around the northern margin of the SIC.Paleomagnetism of 2450 Ma Matachewan dykes and 1850 Ma impact breccia along a traverse, about 100 km-long and normal to strike of the contact between the SIC and the basement, suggests that the basement beneath the NW corner of the Sudbury Structure has been tilted to the SE within about 10 km of the contact. At this distance a possible fault separates the tilted region from one that shows no evidence of tilting. Petrographically the dykes out to a distance of about 50 km distant from the SIC are altered to upper greenschist facies of metamorphism with a fibrous amphibole replacing pyroxene and with loss of primary texture that characterizes less altered Matachewan dykes at distances greater than 50 km. The direction of magnetization found in the altered Matachewan dykes is an overprint which is probably associated with regional metamorphism related to orogenesis, or possibly with thermo-chemical alteration associated with SIC emplacement. The direction of the component is compatible with an age of about 1.8 to 1.9 Ga suggesting that the Penokean orogen is the most likely cause, if not the impact event. The paleomagnetism of the breccias, together with shatter cone orientation data, suggests that within 10 km of the SIC/basement contact, basement tilting to the southeast increases towards the SIC.     

Diatom and chrysophyte functions and inferences of post-industrial acidification and recent recovery trends in Killarney lakes (Ontario, Canada)

The surface sediment diatom and chrysophyte assemblages from 33 Sudbury lakes were added to our published 72 lake data set to expand and refine the diatom and chrysophyte-based inference models that we had earlier developed for this region. Our calibration data set now includes 105 lakes, representing gradients for multiple environmental variables (e.g., lakewater pH, metals, and transparency). The revised models are based on the weighted averaging calibration and regression approach and include bootstrap error estimates. The pH model was the strongest (r² _boot = 0.75, RMSE _boot = 0.50). The chrysophyte-inferred pH model (r² _boot = 0.79, RMSE _boot = 0.48) that we developed was as robust as the diatom pH model. Diatom and chrysophyte inferred pH models were then applied to top (surface sediments representing current conditions) and bottom (generally from > 30 cm deep representing pre-industrial conditions) sediment diatom and chrysophyte assemblages of 19 Killarney area lakes near Sudbury. The top and bottom inferred pH results were compared to early-1970s measured pH data. These data suggest that, although many of the poorly buffered Killarney lakes had experienced acidification, marked pH recovery has occurred in many lakes within the last 25 years. Despite the stunning pH recovery, the present-day diatom and chrysophyte assemblages are significantly different from assemblages present during pre-industrial times. Our results suggest that biological recovery may require more time than chemical recovery. It is also likely that these lakes may never recover biologically because other anthropogenic stressors (e.g., climate warming and increased exposure to UV-B radiation) may now have greater influence on biological communities in Killarney/Sudbury area lakes than acidification.